Guardians of Light: A Shadow Rises
Chapter 1-Freedom's Aftermath
-Malakh Kingdom: 10,000 Years Before Discord's Imprisonment-
Paradise. Simply put, paradise. If there was a word to describe the realm of the Malakhs, it was that.
Morning Light strode down the golden walkways, the gleaming light above the realm shining down on everyone in the kingdom. Morning smiled as a gentle breeze brushed past his face while his daylight shone upon him. What a glorious day, he thought. Being the bringer of light, of course he took pride in his work. Every Malakh had a duty to perform in the kingdom, be it caretaking for that which the One had created, devoted praise-singers, guarding the One's palace, the Apostolate, or in Morning Light's case, the bringing of daylight to mark transitions between twenty-four hour periods. All activities were under the One's supervision, of course. Nothing in the kingdom happened without His knowing.
I'm sure there won't be any wrongdoing found in a meeting of the Ancients, Morning figured. If anything, the annual Worship ceremony would be a delight to the One.
Morning's golden eyes were drawn to a pair of toga-clad Malakhs as they waved at him.
The Malakh on the right spoke up. "Good day to you, Morning Light!"
"Ah, the bringer of light. Why grace us with your presence?" The second asked.
Morning smiled back at the two. "Just making my way over to the Apostolate. Why not take a stroll through our splendid city?"
"Well may the One smile upon you in your endeavors," the first Malakh said as he raised his index finger towards the sky in reverence.
Morning flashed a smile as he continued down the road. "And to you as well."
As he walked down the road, Morning fished out the ideas list he had prepared for the council meeting. They'd told him to ready some plans for how the Worship would be prepared and he'd made sure to put one hundred and ten percent into how the One was to be celebrated that day.
With Worship being in about a week, it shouldn't take long to implement my plans should they be decided upon. Oh what was he thinking? Of course his plans would be chosen. How could they not be? I doubt anyone else put the amount of work into the planning as I did, but I guess I'll soon find out.
Morning looked up to see the Apostolate standing opulently before him. Before him was a single golden cylindrical tower that stretched into the limitless expanse above, far beyond the sight of anyone else in the kingdom. At the top was the One's throne room, a place that a select few had entered. Such a privilege had not yet been bestowed upon Morning Light, however. But this year, the plans he constructed for the Worship would surely grant him an audience with the One.
Well, let's not dilly-dally then. Apostolate, here I come. With that thought, Morning Light picked up the pace of his walk as he neared the Apostolate.
-Canterlot Castle: Present Day-
As soon as the Friendship Express from Ponyville had pulled into Canterlot station and slowed to a stop, the doors to the passenger cars flew open. Loved ones flew into the arms of their special someponies, ponies in business attire exited with their briefcases in hoof, and other travellers with suitcases on wheels rolled out of the car. From the front-most passenger car, six ponies and a young dragon stepped onto the station platform. A sea of ponies going to and fro on the station met them.
What's going on here? Twilight's eyes narrowed in befuddlement.
"Helloooo, Canterlot!" Pinkie Pie jumped from the train, stood up, and held her front hooves open as if to receive the city in a big hug.
"Thank you, mister conductor," Fluttershy turned to say as she and her friends exited the train.
All Aboard tipped his hat in response. "My pleasure, ma'am. Make sure to-" Before he could finish, a pair of golden-armored guards marched through the crowd towards the stopped train.
"You are the conductor for this train, correct?" one of the guards, a white unicorn, inquired.
The pony conductor's eyes darted back and forth under the gazes of the guardsponies. "Umm, yes. I am."
The second guard, a light grey earth pony, opened his mouth to speak. "Then by order of Princess Celestia, you are hereby prosecuted under-"
"It's okay, sirs," a voice from their side. The guardsponies looked to see Twilight standing before them, her chest thrust outward with authority. "This conductor means no disrespect to the law. I ordered him to continue this train's journey to Canterlot."
The two guards swiftly dropped to one knee. "Apologies, your Highness," the grey guard said. "Shall we inform Princess Celestia of your arrival?"
Twilight shook her head. "No need. Also, why the increase in security here?"
"The princess has ordered the Citadel Initiative into action. We are tasked with guarding this station to make sure the transfer of civilians goes smoothly," the white pony answered.
"Citadel what-now?" Applejack cocked an eyebrow at the phrase.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot divulge the Initiative's details in public for disclosure purposes," the white guard stepped in. "If you wish for us to escort you to the castle for a debrief from Princesses Celestia and Luna, we would be happy to oblige."
"There will be no need, sirs," Twilight responded as she sidestepped a pony that was boarding the train. "We can get to the castle on our own."
The dark grey guard nodded. "Very well, Princess. Come on, Marble. Let's get back to our post." With that, the two guards disappeared back into the multicolored horde.
"Jeez. What's with this crowd?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to get above the group and see how far the crowd stretched. The subsequent dropping of her jaw gave her friends all they needed to know as to the crowd's size.
Rarity gave a displeased huff. "Well this 'Citadel Initiative' obviously has something to do with it. But how are we going to get past this crowd?"
"Well the castle isn't too far from the station," Spike spoke up. "We should be able to just walk there."
The seven looked ahead, their shoulders sagging as the sea of ponies continued to slosh about in front of them, a few of which began walking towards the train.
"Is this the train to leave?"
"Didn't they say airships would be taking us away from here?"
"I don't remember the guards saying anything about trains."
Twilight and her friends sidestepped the approaching group of ponies as the conductor intercepted their inquiries. Slowly, the group of seven began their trudge their way through the variegated mass of ponies.
After a few moments, Twilight looked behind her to confirm that all her friends were accounted for. "Stick together, everypony. Don't want to get lost in this crowd."
Applejack scratched the side of her head as she dodged a couple of unicorns. "Well whatever's going on, ponies sure are getting antsy around here."
"I couldn't agree more," Rarity chimed in while she nudged her way past a top hat wearing pegasus. "I've never seen the city this bustling before."
Spike leapt upon Twilight's back to avoid being trampled. "Me neither. I don't recall Canterlot being this crowded even while we lived here, Twilight."
"Well the sooner we can get to the princesses, the sooner we can get some answers as to what's going on," Twilight spoke up. With that, she renewed her efforts to push through the crowd towards the pearlescent castle.
-North Equestrian Airspace: Present Day-
Regicide. Murder. Betrayal. Calamity. Helplessness. Fang sat at the corner of the balloon and stared into the horizon. The image of Chrysalis's dead body underneath Chassis's green fangs flashed in his mind over and over again. Greed. Disloyalty. Anger. Revenge. Bloodlust. Fang ground his teeth together so hard it hurt. His face contorted into one of fury. Chassis would pay for his treason. Fang promised himself that he would see Chassis die the same way he killed his queen.
Chrysalis. She was willing to give everything for the hive. She had given everything, but was stolen from the hive by one of her own. Tears welled up in Fang's blue eyes.
"Fang, are you alright?"
Fang snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Cipha looking concernedly at him. The changeling took in a shaky breath. "Yeah… I'm fine," he said between clenched teeth.
Cipha's eyebrows knit together at the tear that rolled down his cheek. "Fang, I know that you're mad, but-"
"I'm not mad, Cipha. I'm alright." Fang turned back and resumed his gaze at the mountainous skyline from whence they'd come.
"Fang…" Cipha began but was met with Fang's revealing silence. Later. She turned back to see Trixie staring at the balloon basket's floor. "Trixie, how are you doing?"
Trixie's angry eyes rose to meet Cipha's. "Been better."
Cipha walked over to the unicorn and raised an arm to put over Trixie's shoulder.
"Don't. Touch me," Trixie shot. Cipha instantly retracted her arm. "Do we have a destination?"
Cipha's eyebrow rose. "We don't. Why?"
"Because I have one." Trixie strode over to the ropes of the balloon. Standing up on her hind hooves, she wrapped the ropes around her forelegs. "We're going to Canterlot."
"Canterlot?" Cipha's eyebrows furrowed together at the choice in destination.
"Yes, Canterlot, where you two will be tried and imprisoned for ponynapping."
Fang's head shot around to face Trixie's. "We are not going back to Canterlot only for you to have us put in a cell!"
"And who's going to stop me? Two changelings that don't have a queen anymore?" As Fang's muscles tightened for him to pounce, Trixie aimed her horn up at the balloon. " Try it and I will blow this balloon out of the sky."
"Hey!" Cipha dove between the two. "Fang, we will discuss this later, but for now, control yourself! And Trixie, that was severely uncalled for. Yes, our queen is dead. No, that does not give you the right to criticize our actions."
Trixie's eyes narrowed at the female changeling. "You tricked me into going up to that mountain with you, forced me to free some Celestia-knows-how-powerful being, and you're saying I can't complain? Who the buck do you think you are?!"
Silence hung heavy in the balloon basket, only the whooshing of passing high-altitude winds daring to break it.
"Okay," Cipha conceded. "Take us to Canterlot. Throw us in the dungeons so that we may never be seen or heard from again. Just let us have our say before you do so."
Fang's enraged eyes widened at her words. "But Cipha, Chassis-"
"Let him wallow in his treachery, Fang," Cipha was quick to cut off. "Nothing we can do will bring Chrysalis back." Cautiously, she lay a perforated hoof on his shoulder. "For now, all we can do is wait."
Fang's head dipped down towards the basket floor beneath him as he considered his options. After a few moments, he heaved a sigh and looked back up at Cipha.
"Alright. I will comply for now, Cipha. But mark my words, that motherbucker will pay for what he did."
Trixie looked back and forth between the two changelings. "We're still going to Canterlot, you know. That little exchange did not help your cases any."
"It wasn't supposed to," Cipha turned back to the unicorn and gave her an accepting look. "But before we get locked away in Canterlot, think you can grant us one final request?"
Trixie grimaced at the demand. "And what request is that? I cannot guarantee that your wish will be fulfilled."
"We would like to seek an audience with the princesses of Equestria," Cipha said as she gestured to herself and Fang. Seeing Trixie's eyebrows rise at the request, Cipha continued. "I know it seems a bit outlandish, but somepony has to know what we saw. You only know what the creature looked like and that it's been set loose. What everypony else wouldn't know is the context of that knowledge. Something that we can provide."
Trixie retightened her hold on the ropes. "Context? What do you mean?"
"The things we did prior to our finding of the creature," Fang spoke up. "Why we did it. How we found it. The basis for our entire mission needs to become known. You saw that thing, Trixie. You know just as well as we do that it's dangerous, so let us speak our part."
Her eyes darted from side to side as Trixie thought about it. Grinding her teeth, she nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do when we get to Canterlot. But no promises."
"It's all we'll need. After that, you can leave us to rot and forget all of this ever happened." A slight smile flittered across Cipha's face before she turned to face the horizon with Fang. "Now let's go. Canterlot awaits us."
Ahead of them stood a lone mountain, the silhouetted castle standing tall on its side.